Once upon a Tyne.

Since I am visiting Newcastle  upon Tyne, UK for a short while, and staying at a student accommodation studio , I'm going to make the most of the situation. Considering I'm on a tight budget in terms of resources but have a wider range of produce to choose from , I should be doing well. And considering the meals put together in the past two day, its a great start. So now here's offering you frugal meals.

Day one was spent in exploring the place, supermarkets and generally figuring out the locations of shops, university etc. Meals were Fish and Chips ( gorgeous cod , battered and served with steamed peas and  chips), Vegetable soup ( terrible. It had lentils veggies, ham, but just not very tasty), vegetarian canneloni with a greens salad , baked potato with spicy chilli . Now finally I am geared with a basic kitchen i.e Amenities: A 2 burner electric hob,  a small microwave/ oven, a small size refrigerator, 4 1/2 feet platform with overhead storage. Some Tupperware : the magic chopper, 2 rock n serve, a 3 pc set of clear n pure bowl, a crystal wave mug, A set of serving and stirring spoons, masala dabba, and small lidded cups and bowls .
Cookware: A prestige pressure cooker, a 5 pc set of Tefal non stick cookware i. a small milk pan, small sauce pan, medium saucepan, small frying pan and a medium frying pan.

Homeware from Argos and Poundland. Groceries from Morrisons, Sainsbury's and I'm set to cook n blog.

Coming up soon. Non Fussy, easy to cook, almost frugal food.

Happy Reading and Bon Appetite.

Tomato Celery Soup

This soup is an excellent example on how to make a simple everyday dish , exciting and fancy.  Its as simple at that, just take a normal tomato soup, add in chopped celery , give it a boil , add a dollop of cream and VOILA! a lovely fresh  exotic soup. 

You have the additional trick of using packaged tomato soup if you don't have the time to make it. But in love the longer process , and if you do too, here it is.

4 firm red tomatoes, 1/2 a potato peeled and diced, 2 inch piece of carrot peeled and diced, 1 small onion chopped,2 cloves garlic chopped, 1 stalk of fresh celery or about 2 heaped tbsp of chopped celery . salt and pepper to taste. Fresh cream to garnish

Cut the tomatoes into half and scoop out the seeds.In a large pot put in the tomatoes, carrot, potato, onion, garlic  and 4 cups of water. Cover and cook till the carrots and potatoes are tender. Cool , blend into a smooth paste and strain. Put the strained soup into another pan , season with salt and pepper and the chopped celery. Cook till it comes to a boil, lower the flame and let simmer for 5 mins. Serve the soup with a dollop of fresh cream.

Garlic bread, soup sticks, croutons or crackers go well with this soup.

Spanish Rice

The kids are amazing in the kitchen . Very often they want to experiment with familiar ingredients , just adding a couple of different flavours or key ingredients to it to give it a different twist. Here is a Spanish rice made by my son. Its light, quick to cook and delightfully tasty. A treat for the eyes as well. 

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion chopped fine, 2 garlic cloves chopped fine, 1 cup raw rice,1 tomato chopped, 2 cups chicken stock,   2 tbsp grated cheese, 1 tsp finely chopped oregano, salt and pepper to taste.

Pick and wash the rice. Drain it for about 30 minutes before cooking.

Heat a pan , lightly fry the onions and garlic till the onions are translucent.Add in the rice and saute till the rice is well coated with the oil. Meanwhile heat the chicken stock.Add to the rice, slowly mixing and stirring it . Add tomatoes, oregano , salt and pepper to the rice. Lower the flame and cover the pan. Cook for 10 mins or till the rice is just done.

To serve, fill the rice in a small bowl. Gently pat down the rice and turn it over into a serving plate. Garnish with grated cheese and serve.

Chicken in Black Bean Sauce

I usually love cooking from scratch i.e. using fresh ingredients while cooking , buit there are certain exceptions I make while cooking chinese or thai. Even though i make and store certain chinese and thai sauces/ pastes/ spices, black bean paste is best bought from a speciality store.

This is again another easy to make dish, you can control the gravy this dish has. Without the gravy this can be used as a starter, just make sure to have thin long strip for chicken if you want to serve as a starter. For a gravy cubes work best.

Marinate together 250 gms boneless chicken ( i prefer using the breast side pieces as it is leaner) , 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tsp cornflour.

1 cup chicken stock, 1 tblsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp black bean sauce, dry red chilies broken into medium size pieces, 1 tsp chopped garlic, salt to taste,

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. add in the red chilli pieces and the garlic.Add the marinated chicken. Toss on a high flame for 2 minutes, then lower the flame and toss for another 5 mins. Add salt, soy sauce, black bean sauce and chicken stock. Adjust seasoning. Mix 2 tsp cornflour to 2 tbsp water.When the mixture boils, add the cornflour water . Mix till the gravy thickens.

Serve with Fried Rice or noodles.

Dragon Chicken.

Do your kids have the instant favourite dish, which is easy to make and whose origins , if traced will be nothing like what you have in hand. We have Dragon Chicken. Its viscious red looking , but sweet and tangy and not spicy hot at all. The red colour is enough to put off any gourmet, but my kids and their friends have a special place in their heart and stomach for Dragon Chicken. So keeping aside my potato "chip on my shoulder" , i get not so busy getting together their favourite dragon chicken. 
Here we go

250 gms boneless chicken cubes, 1 tsp salt , pepper. 2 tsp cornflour, 1 tsp soy sauce,1/4 tsp tandoori orange or tomato red colour. Marinate for 10 mins.

In a pan heat 1 tsp oil, add 2 kashmiri red chillies / 4 small round red chillies. add in the chicken and cook on high flame for a minute, reduce heat. Add  1 tbsp each of tomato sauce/ ketchup and tomato puree, salt to taste.Add 1ts cornflour to tbsp water. Add to the chicken and toss till dry. Serve as a starter.

Til Laddoos - Sesame seeds sweet

Small sweet crispy balls of delight. One of the fastest moving sweet in our house. Easy to make , extremely popular. Specially during winter, Til or sesame is a great food for warmth. Its only because of the fact that its rumoured as being difficult to make, people prefer to buy it at sweet shops rather than make it at home. Take it from me , ITS EASY. All it needs is to understand the proportion. The weights given below work very well for me. The laddoos turn out moderately hard , enough to enjoy and not stick to the teeth. Try it this way and I promise you will never buy another til laddoo again. 

Sesame seeds 500 gms, gud or molasses ( normal gud is fine) 350 gms, 1 cup finely chopped nuts of choice ( almonds/ cashewnuts/ pistachio/ peanuts/ roasted gram dal) 2 tblsp raisins. A little ghee to line your palms with. A bowl of water to dip your fingers in and wet your hand.

Before beginning clean , wash  and dry the sesame seeds. They have a lot a grit and  washing the seeds help cleaning them thoroughly. After washing , rub with a dry napkin and spread it out to dry through and through. 

Heat a heavy pan. Roast the sesame seeds lightly for about 5 mins. Take care to not leave the seeds alone, they will start popping all over the place. Once well roasted and pinkish, keep them aside.Lightly roast the dry fruits and add to the sesame seeds.  In the same pan grate the gud , stir and melt the gud. Once melted it will start bubbling and foaming. Keep stirring . A test for to check if the syrup is done right is to let a few drops of the syrup fall into the bowl of water. The syrup will cool and harden. Just pick out the cooled hardened bits and throw them into the water again. If you hear a hard clunk, the syrup is done. Gently add in the sesame seeds and dry fruits. Mix till well coated with the gud syrup.  keep the pan warm and take out half of the mixture on a clean plate. apply ghee on your palms . carefully pick up about a spoonful of mixture at a time and roll into balls. repeat with the remaining mixture till it is all used up. Incase the mixture starts hardening up, just heat it for a minute and start rolling into laddoos.

Store in a dry airtight container. These keep well for atleast 2 weeks, or maybe longer. I have had no occasion to find out exactly how long these keep. I have difficulty holding onto them for more than 2 days .

These laddoos are made specifically on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, the 14 of January. 

Vaangi Batata

Brinjals are not really a focal point of any conversations. Yet people have extreme reactions when the topic comes up. They either love it or hate it , no in betweens.My family does that though. They will readily eat them , but not ask for them or refuse them . As for me I love brinjals in all forms. Be it the typically Maharashtrian style spicy stuffed Brinjals or the North Indian mashed chunky Brinjal Bharta or the Middle Eastern Moutabal or Turkish Imam Bayildi






 4 medium sized brinjals, washed . Slit them from the bottom 3/4 upwards into 4 attached segments. 4 medium sized potatoes, washed peeled and slit from the bottom 3/4 upwards into 4 attached segments. Mix the stuffing ingredients well. Stuff the mixture into the brinjals and potaoes. Take care to not force too much stuffing or the segments may break off. Keep aside the extra stuffing if any.

Stuffing:
 2 tbsp grated dry coconut, 1/4 cup besan/ gram flour roasted ,2 tsp sesame seeds, 2 tsp red chilli powder, 2 tbsp dhania ( coriander powder , 1 tbsp jeera ( cumin) powder , 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp tamarind paste or aamchur ( dry mango) powder, 1 tbsp gud (jaggery), finely chopped fresh coriander leaves, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste ( optional) , 1 tsp garam masala powder ,salt to taste.1 tsp oil to bind the stuffing. 

Tempering:
 2 tbsp oil, 1 tsp rai/ sarson (mustard) seeds , 5-6 curry leaves.


Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds. When they pop add curry leaves. Add the stuffed brinjals and potaoes. Mix lightly , cover and cook for abt 10 mins on a slow flame. This will help the stuffing coagulate and stick to the vegetables. Lightly sprinkle the leftover stuffing over the vegetables , again cover and cook on slow flame till welldone , but dont let the brianjals get mushy. 

Serve with whole wheat roti, jowar ( sorghum) or bajra ( pearl millet) or nachani ( finger millet) rotis.

Seafood Feast

This Seafood fest was served up by my mom. Mom often travels and is gone for days on end. The day she has to leave , she bangs out a next to debauched meal. This meal has starting at 12 o clock position , Goan prawns curry, roti, steamed rice, fried fish , crab masala , shellfish and in the centre solachi kadhi or Kokum kadhi . This kadhi is a beverage which is served before a meal as an apertif, during a meal or after a meal as a digestive. Its coconut milk based , is slightly tart and salty. sometimes tempered with garlic, curry leaves or jeera. It forms a integral part of a goan meal.

If you notice the absence of a green vegetable in this meal , its because most goans ( non vegetarians) , are just not very fond of vegetables. I remember as a kid, we would be invited to friends and relatives for lunch and dinner on our holiday visits to my mothers village in Goa. Every meal ( a variety of fish dishes, curries, dry masala concoctions, fried fish and prawns and sometimes even chicken curries) would have a lone misfit looking serving of long green beans . It is cooked in the "upkari " style i.e. without turmeric or dry masalas, just tempered with a green chilli and garnished with fresh coconut. To me it was the most unappetizing vegetable. After a few days I noticed, every person leaving the vegetable on the plate. It was clearly cooked only to add a green vegetable option for the guests and neither hosts nor guests were interested in it.

So that explains why there is no green vegetable in the seafood fest. 

Khichadi - Methi

A Khichadi is a lightly seasoned soft blend of rice and lentils or pulses cooked together and tempered.This particular version of a khichadi was a favourite at my mothers house. As a growing girl I learnt the nutritious value of using sprouted methi seeds while cooking. This khichadi was specially served to pregnant or lactating mothers


1 cup rice , 1/4 cup sprouted methi ( fenugreek) seeds , 2 tbsp ghee, 1 tsp jeera seeds, 1 pinch asafoetida, 1 bay leaf, 1 medium size piece of cinnamon, 4 cloves, 2 green cardamom, salt to taste,
For the tempering 1 tbsp ghee, 1 tsp red chilli powder.

Heat a pressure cooker or heavy bottomed pot. add in ghee . When the ghee is hot enough add in whole spices like jeera, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, crush the cardamom and add it to the ghee as well. drain the rice and add to the ghee. On a slow flame roast the rice , when well coated in the ghee add the methi seeds . Add in hot water . Proportion is 2 cups water to 1 cup rice . Add salt to taste, cover and cook. ( If using a pressure cooker 2 whistles are enough) .

Before serving, heat 1 tbsp ghee . take off heat and add 1 tsp red chilli powder. Pour over the khichadi. Sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves.

Khichadi - Sprouts

Khichadi is usually meant to be a dish for invalids. A lightly cooked meal of rice and lentils with just a touch of salt and a drop of ghee. Its nutritious , filling and easy to digest. However Khichadi is a staple on Sundays at my dining table. I need think up variations to keep them interested in this simple yet nutritious one dish meal. Khichadi typically is a combination of rice and lentils , mostly moong dal( spilt mung beans) . However I have expereimented with mixed lentils, spinach and cheese, sprouted pulses and even fenugreek seeds.
This is one with sprouts and mung beans.

The general proportion I use is 1 cup of  rice to 1/2 cup of  dals/ lentils or sprouts. So the ingredients for 4 servings would be  1 cup rice , 1/2 cup dal , 2 tbsp ghee, 1 tsp jeera seeds, 1 pinch asafoetida, 1 bay leaf, 1 medium size piece of cinnamon, 4 cloves, 2 green cardamom, salt to taste,
For the tempering 1 tbsp ghee, 1 tsp red chilli powder.

Heat a pressure cooker or heavy bottomed pot. add in ghee . When the ghee is hot enough add in whole spices like jeera, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, crush the cardamom and add it to the ghee as well. drain the rice and add to the ghee. On a slow flame roast the rice , when well coated in the ghee add the dals. ( If using sprouted pulses do not add them yet. Add in hot water . Proportion is 3 cups water to 1 cup rice . If you like the khichadi a bit mushy, add about 4 cups. Add salt to taste, cover and cook. ( If using a pressure cooker 2 whistles are enough) .If using sprouts, add them after about 5 mins of cooking with the lid on. Mix well , taste salt and cook till well done.

Just before serving, heat the extra 1 tbsp ghee take off the flame. Add in the chili powder . Pour over the khichadi and serve hot. Khichadi can be served with a variety of accompaniments like kadhi , dahi, salads, pickles, papadams , stuffed chillies , raita , green coriander chutney , garlic onion chilli chutney , garlic chutney 

Vegetable Raita

A raita is a side dish , which adds a festive look to an every day meal. Raitas are basically youghurt based salads. They can be made with chopped raw salad vegetables, chopped fresh mint or spinach or coarsely crushed jeera, pepprcorns,  grated beetroots, or radish, chopped and seasoned bananas , potatoes, or the crisp friend boondi.

Easy to make in steps 1-3 it a great accompaniments to one dish meals like khichadi, pulaos, biryani or parathas.

1 cup dahi ( youghurt) , finely chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumber, 1 finely chopped green chilli. a sprig of coriander finely chopped. Salt and pepper to taste. pinch of sugar. Optional 1 tbsp of crushed roasted peanuts.

Mix the seasonings into the yoghurt. Fold in the vegetables. Chill and serve.

Sushi

Sushi brings to mind at one the words exotic and complicated. One it is and the other it is not. Yes sushi is definitely an exotic snack, but complicated it is certainly not. There a few basic things take care of while making sushi. Fresh ingredients, perfectly cooked and seasoned rice, and a firm hand to roll the sushi.

Here is a step by step guide to making and rolling sushi. To start with the ingredients

 Nori seaweed sheets, fresh cucumbers, carrots, avocado, smoked salmon, crabmeat, boiled chicken, boiled prawns, Short gained rice, rice vinegar, castor sugar,

1 cup of cooked short grained rice is enough for 2 Nori sheets. Per cup cooked rice add 1 tbsp rice vinegar and 1 tsp castor sugar. The rest is all your imagination.

1. Seaweed . A sheet of seaweed which is dull and matte looking on one side and shiny on the other side. Lightly toast the seaweed sheet on the shiny side. Make sure to toast it on a girdle heating on a low flame

2. Rice: Boil shortgrain rice till tender but not mushy. Drain and place in a shallow tray , add sugar and vinegar and lightly toss around till well mixed and cool.

3. Vegetables / fish/ chicken/ tofu : Finely chop vegetables into julienne , fish into very thin slices, chicken/ tofu / paneer into thick julienne.

Lay the toasted seaweed onto a sushi mat . Lay it toward the lower middle part of the mat. Wet your hand and take a handful of cooked rice. Flatten it onto the seaweed sheet to cover 2/3rd of the seaweed. 

Place the vegetables or chicken/ fish/ prawn or your filling of choice at the bottom of the rice layer.

Starting at the extreme end where the filling is placed , start rolling the seaweed upward. Make sure the filling, rice and seaweed is firmly secured. 

As the first layer is rolled in , let go of the mat and continue rolling till the end of the seaweed sheet. Wet the edge of the seaweed and roll it up all the way.

Using a sharp knife and after dipping it in hot water and slice the sushi. 

Serve the sushi rolls in a platter with a few shreds of pickled ginger , a small ball of wasabi paste and a small dipping bowl with about a tblsp of light soy sauce. The way to eat it is to dissolve a little bit of wasabi in the soy sauce . Pick a piece of sushi, dip it in the soy sauce and eat it . The wasabi paste is extremely hot, so be careful as to how much you dissolve into the soy sauce. The pickled ginger is to be eaten in between sushi pieces to cleanse the palate.

Shepherd's Pie - Traditional British Cooking

There are many quintessential British meals that find their way to my table. Fish and Chips , Roast Chicken, Bangers and Mash, Bubble and Squeak and a full fledged English Breakfast of eggs, toast, bacon, beans, mushrooms, potatoes and on a day when the fridge is almost empty, a Ploughman's Lunch of a chunk of cheese, pickled gherkins and bread. Its great fun to put together a traditional meal. I enjoy serving up such traditional meals then whether they are Indian , oriental or continental. I am going to attempt to recreate them here as a series.
Starting with Shepherds Pie : Its typically a pie made with leftover meat covered with mashed potato. I make a slightly different version of this usually bland pie.

Ingredients: 2 tbsp Olive Oil, minced lamb or mutton about 500 gms, 1 large onion finely chopped , 1 large carrot chopped fine, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary ( you can use dry herbs if fresh ones are not available) garlic chopped fine, salt, pepper and  a teaspoonful of red chili powder ( yes it has a bite), 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce , 3 tbsp tomato puree, 1/4 cup red wine, 1 cup chicken stock.
For the Mashed Potatoes: 4 large potatoes boiled till very soft , 2 tbsp butter, 1/4 cup milk, 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese , salt and pepper to taste. 1 tbsp olive oil to drizzle on the top.

Heat oil, add in the mince and fry uniformly till well browned, add in finely chopped carrots, onions and garlic. Further cook it till dry, add the seasonings salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, red chilli powder, then add in the tomato puree and mix well. Pour in the red wine , cook , add chicken stock , cover and cook till the mince is well done. Dry it till it can be collected in a lump. Keep warm

Mash the boiled potatoes. Add butter, milk , salt , pepper  and cheese and whip well.

In a oven proof deep dish pile in the mince and flatten . Top with a generous layer of mashed potatoes , flatten and score with a fork. ( You can also put in some mashed potatoes in a piping bag and decorate the pie with it). Drizzle some olive oil over it and cook in a hot oven ( approx 180 deg Celsius) for 15-20 mins. Cut into wedges and Serve with a fresh garden salad.